Millennia Media imersiv D1

 It will not sound mechanical. It will not sound like a recording studio monitoring tool, which DACs like Benchmark and D1 really are.

I have to disagree with this point. The D-1 is a very musical sounding DAC. The review I posted above is saying the same thing. I am listening to this DAC about 6 hours a day (like right now) and it is sweet and detailed. Just a unicorn DAC.

Some feedback on the low-cost transformer-based switch from imersiv ($500). The one I mentioned in my previous post is going to cost more, likely a lot more. The low-cost one does the same thing but for a single input.

(9) imersiv D-1 DAC (HDR-A) | Page 8 | Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org

 The imersiv > imersiv transformer box > WA24 seems to have slightly more intimate staging (nothing extreme), but noticeably improved imaging, dynamics, and clarity compared to the Zahl preamp chain.

Same thing I observed with the Schitt Aegiv v1 amp with Danny’s transformer and the imersiv D-1.

@yyzsantabarbara Steve waa evaluating the D1 with Burson mono amps. If you watched his review of these amps he mentions on more than one occasion that they’re warm sounding. Without any doubt it’s possible to balance things out in a system by pairing a very analytical dac with warm amp and speakers. I get it. It works in your system because you paired it with the right equipment. Swap it places with the Meitner and it will most likely destroy synergy. 
That’s why I said auditioning is key

Stereophile just posted a review of the MA3i today.  The reviewer states it is a big improvement over the MA3.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/meitner-ma3i-integrated-da-processor

@kumizi awesome! Will read it shortly. Thanks!

I’m coming up on a one year anniversary of Meitner in my system without any desire to upgrade the DAC. One year in my system us a lifetime for a component. Lol